Salient to Investors:
Winners in the Fiscal Cliff deal:
- Rich people because raising the threshold for higher taxes from $250,000 to $450,000 because taxes are assessed on marginal income.
- Red State Democrats because they duck partisan controversy, which is right where they want to be.
- The unemployed people.
- Doctors because the deal completely punts on all kinds of substantive issues related to Medicare reimbursement rate issue.
- The elderly.
Losers:
- Grand Bargaineers because the win for the elderly was a catastrophic defeat for the grand bargain.
- Fighting Democrats because the White House chose not to risk further re-enforcing a sense that the president is a weak poker player.
- Grover Norquist.
- The economy because the expiration of the payroll tax holiday means that taxes will go up on working people
- The markets because for the next 2 months they have the debt ceiling standoff lurking over their head.
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